Chapter 22 (TROHP)
Review Responses: Starecrepily: Harry technically already can breed hybrid creatures, he's a parselmouth and could ask a Sea Serpent and Basilisk to breed and kinda have a smaller version of Jormungand with a slightly diluted form of basilisk venom. He won't be creating hybrid creatures, like the ones from Avatar: the Last Airbender or the Legend of Korra. Harry has plenty of stealth options and will be discovering more as the story progresses. Kego66: Thanks. I knew Harry had to put Dumbledore in his place and save his brother's and families image. Harry was truly sick of Dumbles at this point and went for a severe blow to his power and image, and managed to turn major bad press to his brothers advantage and even begin preparing him to fight Voldemort and any other threats to his (James Jr.'s) life. This is the fourth stage of Dumbledore's fall. He's lost the Elder Wand, Chief Warlock position and Supreme Mugwump position, and now his control over Hogwarts. keyblademeister88: You haven't seen anything yet! Imagine what he'd do if he deemed someone a threat... Well, don't, unless you secretly enjoy having nightmares. I don't judge, though. comodo50: I know that was an error when I first published, the other chapters don't have that. mizzrazz72: Yes, and he'll probably make many, many more. Lazymanjones96: I'm glad that you do. November 5th, 1994. It had been five days since my brother was chosen as a Triwizard Champion. My mom and I had been carefully going over potential oaths to prove his innocence and restore his good name, and oaths were such tricky things that we had to make certain they were worded right. I had also began tutoring him in Transfiguration, Charms, and DADA. Mom taught him Potions, and he had been self-studying for History of Magic. He was able to progress at a rapid pace, and I had brought in Nysa to duel him. It was a great way to spend time with her, and let her bond with my family some, and for James to get stronger, and he had made great progress. It helped that he had his own private instructors that were committed to his betterment. I had a full schedule today, and was currently walking towards the Wand Weighing Ceremony, walking beside James, with our family following us. I had already silenced a few who slandered my brother, I deflowered Pansy Parkinson during a sex ritual. It was that or ruin her family, and I offered to restore her virginity afterward. Though if someone tried using it in a sex ritual they would derive no benefit other than pleasure from it. I enjoyed bringing her to multiple orgasms and depriving some inbred idiot the joy of truly deflowering her. The twenty-two percent power growth was almost as enjoyable. I still looked forward to silencing a few other targets, but that would have to wait. We entered the small classroom where the weighing of the wands would take place, like we owned it, and in my case it was partly true. Our entrance got some raised eyebrows, but no-one said anything. Unfortunately, Bagman noticed James and bounded forward. "Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, James, in you come ... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -" "Wand weighing?" James repeated nervously. "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman, I resisted the urge to snort derisively. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward her. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet..." "Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes locked on James. I would have to put her in her place. "You're not interviewing my brother," I informed her coolly, not at all amused by her antics. "If you cross my family, I'll squash you like I would a beetle." I added, making sure she understood. And she did. I was so enjoying her look of fear. I was glad my family had discussed this ahead of time. "All you may put into your article regarding my brother is this... He is competing under House Potter's banner and was entered by someone who wanted him dead or worse. He is competing under the family banner because he does not wish to unfairly steal Hufflepuff or Diggory's glory, or unfairly give Hogwarts a second champion and therefore another chance to win." I said, before shooing her away from us with a gesture. Rita walked to the other side of the room, but I could tell she was pissed about how I treated her. Dumbledore, Mr. Ollivander, and Mr. Crouch entered few minutes later, and everyone began taking their seats. "May I present Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his seat at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament." I watched the ceremony with well concealed interest, only being distracted when Fleur smiled at me as she returned to her seat. I couldn't help but to be distracted, she was so beautiful and I just had to shag her. When Cedric admitted to polishing his wand last night, I had to resist the urge to say he must be quite flexible. Finally, when Mr. Ollivander was finished, I quickly lead my family out of the room, even when I heard them mention photos. "Not taking part beyond what is required shows that you don't this, and it helps remind people that you're a victim here." I said to James in explanation. My family was surprisingly understanding and supportive of me taking charge. I was correct though, and perhaps they simply acknowledged it. It was late, so we we decided to go directly to dinner. We felt it time to have James to put his slanderers in their place. He needed to begin rebuilding his public image and spare it from further damage. Several minutes later... Everyone was finally in attendance, so my family rose and walked to near the High Table, drawing everyone's attention in the process. I noticed Dumbledore rise, but I forced him back down and restrained and silenced him; all wandlessly. I poured about five percent of my full power into it, and watched him squirm with an amused smile. Aw! He looked so scared! If I had red eyes, I could really mess with him! "Everyone!" James said, getting the Great Halls attention. "As you all know, I was illegally entered into the Triwizard Tournament, some of you even slandered me and claimed I did it myself. But, I'm sure my brother has shown you the error of your ways." he said, getting some muttering from the entire hall. "I'm not up here because I like the sound of my own voice though, I'm about to prove my innocence... I swear upon my life and magic that I did not enter myself into the Triwizard Tournament and neither did any member of my family, and that I do not know who did enter me." Gasps broke out around the Hall, oaths on magic were serious and potentially fatal if poorly worded. Naturally, his spell to prove he still had his magic was a non-verbal and corporeal Patronus Charm. That succeeded in making the sheep fawn over him once more, and demonstrated his magical prowess. "Oh, and Dumbledore. My brother will be attending the award ceremony," I said, with a smile. "I'm glad that you have no objections, thank you." Dumbledore glared, and began trying to over-power the spells placed on him. I was amused at how much power he was using up to break them. I didn't wait for him too though, my family and I quickly left. We had an award ceremony to prepare for, and only had a few hours to do so. Hours later... It was finally time for the award ceremony. I entered the Ministry wearing my best and most fashionable clothes, and was nearly blinded by the idiotic photographers, but they took the hint and stopped after I showed discomfort. I was just lucky that my eyes would rapidly heal if they were damaged, but I continued onto the room where the ceremony was to take place, with my family following me and Nysa hanging on my arm. I could tell that she was happy to be here with me, especially because I refused Fleur's offer to accompany me here. Fleur looked humiliated at the rejection, but I explained that I had already promised Nysa that she could accompany me to the award ceremony and the Yule Ball if we were able to attend. I did offer to date Fleur some other time though, and she didn't refuse, but didn't exactly look thrilled with being my second choice. We entered the Ballroom, and walked directly towards Minister Fudge and Madam Bones. "Ah, Hadrian!" Fudge said jovially. Heir Potter, I mentally corrected. I was just glad that I made sure my Orders of Merlin said Hadrian J. Potter, and not Harry. So many believed that my name was merely Harry. "Minister Fudge," I said politely in return. "This is my girlfriend, Nysa White, and you already know my family." I said, gesturing to the mentioned people. "A pleasure to meet you, Nysa," Fudge said simperingly. "Yes, like wise," Nysa said in return. I noticed that almost everyone was giving Fudge looks of disdain, a few were giving Nysa some too. I discreetly sent some itching hexes, targeting their groins and arses, at the ones who disliked Nysa and started paying more attention to Fudge and Bones. I noticed Madam Bones giving me a knowing look, and I winked at her, causing her to start fighting her rapidly forming smirk. "The award ceremony will begin soon, per your request we omitted the usual ball and dinner, that way you can focus on your studies and training your brother." Madam Bones said. "Have you had any progress in learning who entered your brother into the Triwizard Tournament?" "No, but my main suspects are Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, and Severus Snape." I said, to Fudge's shock. "Yes, I'm aware I'll need to prove or disprove their guilt, but at least Dumbledore was removed as Headmaster, and McGonagall was removed as deputy head. Severus Snape will most likely be fired also, which is long overdue, he's a Death Eater and probably murdered some of the students family members, and has still been favoring the children of darker families and has bullied and harassed children of the light families." I said, turning Fudge's shock into support. "He already had his right to issue detentions, and to add or remove points removed from him." "He's a truly mediocre teacher too. Snape, Binns, and the cursed DADA position have seriously damaged Hogwarts global reputation, but soon they will be removed and we can begin cleaning up the damage." "How will you do that?" Madam Bones asked, with undisguised interest. "Remedial schools, most likely. Especially for would-be Healers, Aurors, and Hit-Wizards. Snape probably did more damage to the Ministry than Voldemort did," I said, ignoring Fudge's gasp. "All while Dumbledore stupidly claimed he changed and was good and light." "If Dumbledore was removed, then why is he still at Hogwarts?" Fudge asked. "He merely exists as a figure-head, with no real power. Once the Triwizard Tournament is over, he will be escorted off Hogwarts Grounds and banned from them. I might even look into the previous Lord Black's files and see if I can get Snape thrown through the veil for any undiscovered actions." "Why did my grandfather leave you his files?" Sirius asked, in slight annoyance. "Because you would have just gotten yourself murdered and the files would have fallen into another's hands." I replied, causing dad and James to snicker. "No, he just knew that I was the type who could successfully use the information." I noticed Fudge looked nervous, but Madam Bones looked envious of said information. Umbridge was thrown through the veil after all, and it helped that nobody liked her and wanted her gone, but that information was barely a taste of what I had. I noticed Dumbledore enter the Ballroom looking quite tired, I could tell that he had used up a lot of power to break free from my spells. The power disparity was a real pain to compensate for. "I can't believe Dumbledore was late to this," Madam Bones said, in clear disapproval. "I can. My family recently distanced itself from Dumbledore, and he's no doubt trying to subtly insult us for it. There are dark events in his past that paint a completely different picture from the one everyone has been decieved by. His affair with Grindelwald being one, and his senility in regards Hogwarts and generally appalling behavior. He's done more bad than good in his life, yet his sycophants worship him as the Leader of the Light." I said, managing to finally turn Fudge against Dumbledore. The best part was that all of that information was recently made public, and completely true. "It was only natural that we would distance ourselves from that darkness." "Ah, James, Lily, how good to see you both." Dumbledore said, though he got rudely ignored. "I seem to have forgotten where you lived, or I would have visited recently." "Dumbledore," Dad said coldly. "You have repeatedly endangered my sons life as well as many others lives with either incompetence or outright stupidity. You are not our friend. You are not to visit us or ask us to join your cult. You will stay the hell away from our children or be investigated for crimes relating to endangering them, or even attempting to murder them." Dumbledore looked shocked. Honestly. He already got rejected once, what was he expecting? "You're living under the Fidelius Charm." Dumbledore realized. "You know that's not infallible-" He began in his grandfatherly tone. "We know that, old man. Quit fishing for information, in public of all places." I said, angrily. "Minister, can you ask the Chief Warlock to leave? I'd rather he not ruin my special night with his lies and manipulations." I added, in a much calmer tone. "Yes, Dumbledore, you should leave." Fudge said. Dumbledore nodded and left, though he made his displeasure obvious to all. I noticed that five people glared at me, Doge, Ogden, Marchbanks, and two elderly witches, who's names I didn't know. I just smirked at them, and made them even angrier. Angry people made mistakes that I could take advantage of. "I think I just made some new friends when I asked you to do that." I said, sarcastically. "That's good!" Fudge said cheerfully, not detecting the sarcasm. "That was sarcasm Fudge, his vapid fans glared at me." I explained, causing Madam Bones lips to briefly upturn. "Oh, my apologies, Hadrian." Fudge said nervously. "No need too, Minister Fudge." I said, to ease his mind. "I blame them and Dumbledore. Sometimes when people serve someone they believe to be truly good, they can be just as bad as the likes of Death Eaters and commit all kinds of atrocities in the name of a false ideal of good." Fudge nodded in agreement. A clock chimed in the background, and Fudge straightened himself up. "It's time, Hadrian," Fudge said, with an undertone of excitement. He quickly got up onto the stage, making an idiot of himself in the process. "Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this Order of Merlin presentation ceremony for Hadrian James Potter, he is the first in history to ever be presented with all three classes of it." Fudge added, getting some mutters. "On August the eighteenth he bravely defeated ten Death Eaters, most of them members of the Inner Circle who had previous pled the Imperious and escaped justice. Hadrian Potter slew them, and prevented them from ever hurting another person ever again!" Fudge paused for brief applause. "For his actions of ending the threat they posed, he shall be accorded the highest honor. He will not only be presented with all three classes of the Order of Merlin, but will also receive the International Wizarding Order of Merit, due to his actions also saving the lives of magical's of other nations." Even more applause broke out, but Dumbles fans looked displeased. Fudge gestured for me to step onto the stage, and I obeyed his unspoken command. "I object to him recieving this award!" Doge called out. Fudge gaped stupidly, his momentum broken. "And why is that Elphias Doge?" I asked in annoyance. "You're a murderer and a Dark Wizard!" Doge called out, getting gasps. "I see your stupidity wasn't exaggerated after all." I said, offending him. "I am not a murderer, the people I killed in the defense of others were the murderers. They were the Dark Wizards!" I said, loudly. "You, and people like you are selfish cowards. You won't kill murderers, even in self-defense or to prevent them from killing others, and the blood of their victims is partly on your hands. You prioritize your own personal and spiritual needs over the lives of others, and then have the audacity to judge others!" My little rant seemed to have humiliated and silenced Doge. "Had someone killed those Death Eaters they could have saved countless lives, but no-one did, and it was left to me." "Shall we continue?" Fudge asked nervously. No one objected this time. "For your outstanding bravery in facing ten elite Death Eaters, I award you the Order of Merlin, First Class!" Fudge said, before placing the medal around my neck. Enthusiastic applause broke out, and Fudge patiently waited for it to die out. "For your bravery of capturing Peter Pettigrew and Ronald Weasley, the former of whom later escaped, I present you with the Order of Merlin, Second Class!" Fudge said, before carefully placing the medal around my neck in such a way that allowed both to be seen. More applause broke out. "For your creation of a ward against Portkey's and Disapparition that only effects marked Death Eaters, I present you with the Order of Merlin, Third Class!" Fudge said, before carefully placing the medal around my neck in such a way that allowed all three to be seen. When the applause died down, Fudge continued. "ICW War Mage, Cort Delacour will now present Hadrian with the International Wizarding Order of Merit." I fought the urge to smirk. Cort Delacour walked onto the stage, with a fake smile plastered on his face. "It gives me great pleasure to present this award to Hadrian, a candidate to become an ICW War Mage." Cort said, with a smile, causing surprise with his declaration. "Hadrian Potter, on behalf of the ICW, I present you with the International Wizarding Order of Merit!" He said, before pinning it to my dress robes and purposely drawing blood. "Oops! Sorry, Hadrian. Sometimes in life you just have to deal with annoying little pricks." He said cruelly. "Is that what your wife said last night?" I asked with a falsely polite smile, before purposely looking down to his groin. Cort briefly twitched for his wand, which caused me to grin. Any further conflict was prevented by another outburst of enthusiastic applause, and Cort walked off-stage after quickly shaking my hand. I let Fudge lead me off-stage, and back to my family and Nysa. I also noticed Madam Bones near them. "So, Hadrian, what are your plans for this year?" Fudge asked, trying to monopolize my attention. "I'm going to beat Hogwarts and Beauxbatons in the Dueling Tournament, and complete my mastery studies in Ancient Studies and Alchemy." "Surely it will be challenging for you?" Madam Bones asked. "Unlikely, but I'm hopeful. Diggory's raw magical power is unimpressive. I have more skill and experience with magic, and so does Nysa. Beauxbatons assembled a more impressive team for the Dueling Tournament, a Sorceress and Sorcerer. I won't say mine and Nysa's rank in terms of magical power, but the Hogwarts team has the least skill and magical power." "Well, I look forward to watching Hadrian." Fudge said nervously, not knowing what to say. "Well my first duel is in five days, and I intend to personally crush the Hogwarts team." I said. That pretty much killed the conversation... It was a gift I had. November 10th, 1994. It was finally time for the Dueling Tournament, and I had a chance to humiliate Hogwarts and Amos Diggory. His idiotic bragging had finally gotten on my nerves and I felt that he needed some humility, and it wasn't like Quidditch actually mattered. "It's finally time for the Dueling Tournament: Team Hogwarts versus Harry Potter!" Professor Flitwick said excitedly. "Duelists, please step onto the platform." I obeyed, eager to beat down Diggory. "Duelists, please bow." Diggory bowed, but I simply refused to do anything. Diggory looked angry at my insult, but I didn't care. "Begin!" Flitwick called out. Diggory began a wand movement, but I banished him into the protective barrier, and then stunned him. "Er... Harry Potter wins in five seconds." Flitwick said in shock, and everyone in attendance seemed to share his shock. "We will grant Harry Potter a five minute break." I nodded respectfully in his direction and went to talk with Diggory's parents. "What no congratulations?" I asked, in false surprise; amusing an indescribably beautiful women sitting near them. Based on the resemblance, I assumed she was Blaise Zabini's mother. "Maybe you'll quit annoying people with your excessive and annoying bragging, and in case it wasn't clear; your sons accomplishments are worth less than Hippogryph shit, so please quit bragging about an adults skill in a meaningless children's game." "You brat!" Amos Diggory bellowed, drawing attention to us. "Careful! If I had feelings you would be hurting them!" I said, with an amused smile. "By the way, how does it feel to know that your son has the weakest magic in both tournaments? Are you angry? Proud? Living your life in dread, knowing that the logical next step down for your bloodline is squib and worrying for your unborn grandchildren?" I asked, making Mrs. Zabini laugh. Amos was shaking in rage. "Annoying isn't it? I beat your son so quickly to teach you humility and to quit being so bloody annoying bragging about his meaningless accomplishments. If your sons best achievement is winning a Quidditch game, then by definition he is a failure and embarrassment." I turned my attention to the lovely Mrs. Zabini. She was tall, dark haired and dark skinned, with high cheekbones and long slanting eyes. Her breasts had to be at least be double Ds, and her long, toned legs made me fantasize about having them wrapped around me as I released inside her. "Rest assured milady. I'll actually give your son a chance to prove himself as a duelist." I said, before kissing her hand. "I appreciate that," she said in a sexy voice and winked at me. She was willing to flirt with me to increase her sons chances of victory, and I didn't mind that at all. "Well, perhaps you can thank me later." I said flirtatiously, amusing her. "Perhaps..." She said, though I knew she wasn't serious. "Well, if not then I just might write to you in a few years and see what happens then." "Duelists please step onto the platform," Flitwick said, with an undertone of concern. I obeyed, though I knew it hadn't been five minutes. This meant Flitwick was concerned for me. "Duelists, please bow." Zabini did nothing, but neither did I. "Impress me!" I said loudly enough for him to hear. He nodded, with a prominent smirk. "Begin!" Flitwick called out. Zabini unleashed a barrage of non-verbal stunners, Disarming Charms, and body binds. I effortlessly deflected them into the protective barrier. He was just too slow to be a challenge, I realized. I quickly disarmed him, before he could even react or counter the spell. "Well, at least you were much better than Diggory." Zabini didn't look all that displeased though. "Harry Potter wins! Single-handedly defeating the Hogwarts team!" Flitwick said, causing my family and Durmstrang to cheer. "Next up, Nysa White will duel Albert Alaries." I calmly watched the duels. Nysa beat Alaries after one minute of trading spells, but he simply wasn't on her level. We spent the five minute break reviewing what we knew of Fleur Delacour. I was confident Nysa could win, Fleur shouldn't be on her level. I knew Nysa had a large power advantage, but hopefully Fleur's father hadn't taught her anything useful. I knew Nysa could move fast and hit very hard, she even obliterated a few of my spare dummies. Nysa and Fleur were called up to the platform, and both refused to bow to the other, but Fleur blew a kiss my direction. I sneered in her direction in reply, which shocked her, but I noticed that Nysa was calm, and had realized that Fleur was merely trying to anger her, and hinder her performance. The duel that followed was quick, and brutal; especially for a non-lethal duel, but Nysa beat Fleur down and humiliated her. I made sure to give Nysa a congratulatory kiss when she won.